Monthly Archives: January 2014

Suzy Bogguss didn’t set out to craft a Merle Haggard tribute record. Some might call that serendipity; she just calls it “lucky”. An accomplished artist and songwriter and a CMA, ACM and Grammy Award winner, Bogguss and her husband/co-producer Doug Crider were combing through songs to consider for her next project. Never one to hew to a particular style, having branched out into jazz, folk and swing sounds alongside traditional and modern country, Bogguss kept coming back to a set of songs that spoke to her…and they just happened to be by Haggard.

“He really is the poet of the common man,” says Bogguss, who kicked off her career with 1989’s “Somewhere Between,” her debut album named after one of Haggard’s early songs. “Not every artist has music that is as universal as Merle’s. It’s pretty heavy-duty stuff, and I think that’s why to so many of us who sing and write songs, he’s such a king among us. When I hear his songs, I feel like I’m listening in on someone’s life.” And Lucky she makes the country rebel’s compositions her own, reinterpreting classics like “The Bottle Let Me Down,” “Silver Wings” and “Today I Started Loving You Again” from a female point of view.

Suzy Bogguss, an Illinois native and one of country music’s most pristine and evocative vocalists, made her major label debut in 1989. She quickly became one of the key artists that defined those golden days of ’90s country. She scored a string of Top 10 singles with country radio staples like “Outbound Plane,” “Drive South,” “Hey Cinderella,” “Letting Go” and “Aces,” and her 1991 album of that name was certified platinum. In addition, she scored a trio of gold albums and notched more than 3 million sales.

With Lucky the singer comes full circle: “My very first song on the radio was by Merle” But the new CD is not a tribute album. Of that, Suzy is adamant. “I don’t want it to be viewed that way. I had been wanting to make a record based in country and blues and I just kept thinking of great Haggard songs, so it just made sense to quit denying that what I really wanted was to sing an entire album of his songs! I have always looked to great singer/songwriters for material outside of my own. These songs are perfect for me at this time in my life.

“I didn’t try to imitate Merle, this is my interpretation of his songs,” she continues. “Besides, Merle is still doing his own thing. He’s hard at work, and people are still lining up around the block to see him.”

Lucky is remarkable in its freshness. Its acoustic-based arrangements, while sparse, crackle with vibrancy. Each song is driven by the perfect marriage of Suzy’s delicate voice and the adventurous, yet tasteful, playing of the band.

“Merle would experiment. He would take his band The Strangers into the studio and they’d be pioneers,” Suzy says. “Each one of Merle’s records sounds fresh and you hear that in these different songs we chose. I really miss that fearlessness today.”

Suzy followed suit. Assembling her own ace band at her home studio-along with an A-team of singer-songwriters, including Jessi Alexander, Matraca Berg, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Gretchen Peters and Jon Randall Stewart, to lend background vocals-she cut a dozen Haggard tunes. They range from the boozy lament “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink” and the raunchy “Let’s Chase Each Other Round the Room” to the sombre one-two punch of “You Don’t Have Very Far to Go” and “Someday When Things Are Good.”

“Merle’s songs were on the 8-track player in my dad’s car. Saturday nights when I would drive around with my friends, this was a part of our soundtrack. Back when country music talked about real adult problems and how we deal with them. We felt like we were eavesdropping on the secret lives of our parents,” Suzy says. “Merle’s songs feel familiar… and slightly dangerous.

Throughout Lucky, Suzy’s bohemian spirit-for nearly five years, she lived in and traveled the country by camper-is palpable. In “Silver Wings,” she delivers an almost cinematic vocal. “There’s a movie playing in my head when I sing that song,” Suzy admits. “And in many of his songs.”

“What I really wanted to illuminate is not only is this guy awesome to see live and awesome to listen to on his records, but his songs are very relatable for somebody else to communicate to other people,” Suzy says. “Not every artist has music that is as universal as Merle’s”.

*Rosendale, NY, *January 21, 2014 ~ Bursting out of the Hudson River Valley’s fertile musical soil, kindie musical pioneers *Dog on Fleas *will release their eighth album *Buy One Get One Flea* on February 18, 2014. The release offers listeners of all ages a serendipitous playlist of old and new songs which celebrate life in in a deceptively light style. Led by Grammy Award winning producer Dean Jones, the Fleas have been creating imaginative, inspiring, and unpredictable music for kids and families for 14 years. Known for employing an eclectic and unusual mix of instruments and songs designed for singing along, played loosely with obvious abandon, Dog on Fleas has carved out a unique place in the burgeoning national family music scene. *Buy One Get One Flea*, like other Fleas releases, was recorded in Jones’ straw-bale No Parking Studio in the Hudson River Valley town of Rosendale, NY. With band mates John Hughes (bass, guitar, ukulele, kazoo, vocals) and Chris Cullo (drums, steel drum, percussion, vocals), multi-instrumentalist Jones brings a spare and fresh sound to these songs. Jumping off with the adventure song “Hinterlands,” the album proceeds through a variety of styles and themes. Unvarnished positivity shines through in “Thinking Good Thoughts,” and the ragtag Backyard Dorchestra performs with clarinets and bassoons, kazoos and glockenspiels to spark the rousing “Grand March from Aida.” Sprinkled throughout are the sweet love songs “I Must Be a Genius” and “If I Were You, I’d Give Me a Kiss,” which are perfect for special moments between parents, kids, and romantic partners alike. The tune “Hundredaires” is a jaunty response to poverty and a celebration of priceless fun, a nice centerpiece for the album. These songs embody the adage that living well is indeed the best revenge. Simplicity is key to the aesthetics *Buy One Get One Flea*. “The only electric things on this album are the bass guitar, and a wicked theremin solo,” says Jones. “We really stripped down to the essentials here. I love recordings that are simple and spacious. We don’t want to clobber listeners over the head with overly produced arrangements.”

*What people are saying about Dog on Fleas…* [image: Dog on Fleas]

*”A warm, quirky production aesthetic, a style that lets the music breathe while making room for all kinds of unexpected stuff.” ~Dadnabbit/Popdose*

*”The music of Dog on Fleas embodies the freedom of a child’s spirit. We’re inspired by the band’s ability to embrace musical forms of the past while exploring modern styles.” ~GRAMMY award winners The Okee Dokee Brothers *

*”Jones’ writing is not only witty, but subtly raises some fairly big questions about life, in a way that may inspire deeper conversations between parents and children.” ~Parents’ Choice*

*More about Dog on Fleas* Dog on Fleas won national acclaim for their previous seven releases, including best of the year picks from WXPN’s Kids Corner and National Public Radio, *School Library Journal*’s “12 Kids Albums You Can’t Live Without”plus regular airplay on Sirius-XM’s Kids Place Live. When not performing with the Fleas or their grown-up band The Bedtime Kissers, band leader Dean Jones produces albums for other family music artists including Uncle Rock, Recess Monkey, The Deedle Deedle Dees, Joanie Leeds, Key Wilde and Mr. Clarke, Grenadilla, and Elizabeth Mitchell. Dean produced the 2013 GRAMMY Award winning album by the Okee Dokee Brothers: *Can You Canoe. *The Canadian-born trombonist collaborated with the Felice Brothers for the acclaimed 2010 release *Rock Paper Scissors*. Jones also produced *Many Hands*, a compilation which features Pete Seeger, They Might Be Giants, and Dan Zanes and has raised more than $100,000 for Haiti earthquake relief. His 2013 solo album *When the World Was New *ranked on several “Best of the Year” lists, and it won a Parents’ Choice Gold Award.

This past December, Finnish melodic death metallers INSOMNIUM spent their holiday season in the studio recording their 6th full-length album. In order to achieve the best production in the band’s history, they decided to record drums at SF Sound (with Kimmo Perkki�), located in INSOMNIUM’s former hometown (Joensuu), while recording the remaining instruments at studio Korkeakoski (Kotka) with Teemu Aalto. Andr� Alvinzi (Fascination Street Studios) will now mix the album so that it will see a spring 2014 release.

INSOMNIUM’s Ville Friman (guitars/vocals) comments: *”Again, the process could be described as a battle against time and ever-narrowing deadlines. We worked long days and we worked hard. But in the end, it was all worth it: new songs sound just amazing. I think the new material is a bit more atmospheric than before. We explored different directions, and for example, experimented with rhythms a bit more; we even have blast beats on this album. And of course, Markus Vanhala brought in his influence in terms of song writing and guitar playing which is something new. However, I think we did not push it too far but stayed loyal to our own sound. Our intention was never really to change but merely update and revise our sound a bit. And I think we did pretty good job with it.”*